Dubai: Employment opportunities have continued to open up for UAE professionals looking to change jobs, with the latest listings showing hundreds of new vacancies.
Hiring experts have said that recruitment is expected to pick up this year, although the most recent employment data and feedback from jobseekers still pointed to a slowdown in the job market.
As of Monday, there are at least 2,357 open jobs listed on Gulf News’ getthat.com and positions available include accountants, technicians, teachers and engineers. There are also vacancies for drivers, housemaids, car cleaners, office clerks, secretaries, administrative assistants, receptionists and salesmen.
Leading the pack in hiring are employers from Dubai, with at least 1,500 available positions, followed by companies in Abu Dhabi that have 400 roles and Sharjah, with 277 vacancies.
Jobseekers who are willing to work outside the city centre can find opportunities in Ajman, where more than 100 new jobs are up for grabs, as well as in Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain.
In Dubai, most of the openings are for candidates with qualifications and experience in engineering. Plenty of opportunities also await those who can work in sales, accounting and administrative functions.
But while hundreds of jobs have opened recently, it doesn't mean that there are enough vacancies out there to meet current demand. A separate report by recruitment experts Hays showed that 57 per cent of professionals in the GCC region were looking to change jobs this year.
According to Bayt.com, the number of UAE employers looking to hire within the next 12 months has gone up to 69 per cent from 67 per cent in 2016. Within the next three months alone, 51 per cent of companies in the UAE said they are “definitely” or “probably” going to recruit new staff.
“The hiring forecast shows a continuation of a strong job market,” said Suhail Masri, vice president of employer solutions at Bayt.com.
More than a third (38 per cent) of the employers are expected to hire a junior executive, while almost the same number (30 per cent) have plans to recruit a coordinator, while 25 per cent intend to hire a manager.
During the first six months of the year, job applicants continued to witness a slowdown in hiring, particularly in the banking and financial services, information and technology, telecommunications, oil and gas, production, manufacturing and other industries.
The Monster Employment Index, which tracks job listings at various job portals in the UAE, said that online vacancies dropped by 14 per cent in the second quarter of the year compared to the previous quarter.
